Leadership Notes - January 2013
Dear Colleagues,
While the New Year is just underway, there is already a great deal of exciting news to share about the Wilmot Cancer Center.
As we have previously communicated, we’ve placed great emphasis on the need to expand and strengthen our research and will continue to look at initiatives that support that mission. Just last month, our recently-established Research Advisory Committee (RAC) awarded $350,000 in seed grants that will fuel individual research and program development. We are extremely pleased to have been able to award, through the RAC, funding to support three pilot projects, a program development grant and a Neuroblastoma research grant.
These grants signal our strong commitment to supporting research at the Wilmot Cancer Center, and the number of applications received and the time committed to review by many members of the RAC was a strong reflection of the interest and enthusiasm of our scientists. In some cases, as many as 10 committee members contributed their time to review the grant applications. Beyond that, we’ve made a commitment to connect with those whose applications did not receive funding and provide feedback that may help strengthen any future proposals.
Equally important, these seed grants were largely made available through the generous support of our community. Our ability to educate and engage our community in the importance of research will become even more critical in an era in which federal funding has reached a plateau and become increasingly competitive. More detailed information on the grants is available elsewhere in this issue.
As you know, in late December, we announced that the Pluta Cancer Center had officially transferred its programs and services to the University of Rochester Medical Center. This provides additional options, resources and flexibility that will only help strengthen the clinical programs we offer our patients.
Both the Wilmot Cancer Center and Pluta have earned outstanding reputations for delivering high quality care, yet there is much we can learn from each other in order to raise that quality to an even higher level. Thanks to your efforts, Wilmot has embraced the URMC focus on Patient and Family Centered Care and made great strides in further improving the quality of care and service we provide our patients. Our new relationship with Pluta can make those gains even more pronounced as personalized care has long been its hallmark. At the same time, the Wilmot Cancer Center can provide Pluta patients with easier access to state-of-the art research and promising clinical trials.
This is an exciting development for cancer patients in the greater Rochester region as it combines and expands resources in a manner that will have a very positive impact on care. By leveraging the strengths of two outstanding providers, we will better serve cancer patients in our community. We will continue to share additional information on the transition with Pluta over the next few months as they fully integrate into our clinical information systems, e-record and other shared services.
The exciting developments of the last month hold great promise for our cancer center and will only serve to strengthen our position as the region’s leader in cancer care and research. Thanks for all you do to make that possible. Best wishes for a successful and healthy New Year!
Sincerely,
Jonathan Friedberg, M.D., MM.Sc.
Hucky Land, Ph.D.